I wasn't quite sure what "Design English" meant in terms of a course, but I knew learning English is a priority for these students. Therefore, I asked them to look at the work of Western designers (not all English speaking) and imitate their work for several weeks. In exchange, one student per week would introduce me to an Asian designer or artist. Since these students are unfamiliar with Western design and are learning English, I thought the mix would be profitable for basic learning, but primarily for me to ascertain the tones and quirks of their individual creative voices.
In choosing which designers or styles should be imitated, I felt each should be a strong voice so that I could explain the work in the context of what was happening politically or socially during that time period and in that geographic location. It isn't surprising that each designer or design movement was a form of PROTEST. The first assignment was to imitate David Carson who challenged the way we look at and work with text and image on a page. The second assignment was Swiss Design. Swiss design seemed perfect as its main purpose was to support international trade by communicating "clearly" to a broad audience with a "rational" and "objective" style. The third assignment was to use one of two fonts Lev Berry redesigned, either Monstre or Fantasie because each are decorative (opposite from Swiss) and layered. Most of my students did not like the style of these fonts at all. Next I asked them to imitate Dada. I think they enjoyed Dada though I'm not at all sure it made sense to them. Then I asked them to imitate psychedelic posters and as a compliment to the hippie look, mod aesthetic. It wasn't surprising that none of these styles were very familiar to an Eastern aesthetic. We are, after all, very Eurocentric.
These are some of the results:
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